Unexpected
by corgiluver32
Summary: There's a new girl at James K. Polk Middle School and no one understands her, but can Ned befriend her or maybe more? Will Moze figure out what is going on and will she accept her or reject her? Read it to find out! T just incase.
1. Chapter 1: The New Girl

13 year old Ned Bigby of James K. Polk Middle School walked down the crowded halls.

"Hi Ned!" said one of his best friends, Moze.

"Hey Moze!" said Ned, "How was your weekend?"

"It was ok." She said sighing slightly, "I've had better."

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't come over to watch 'Step Up' with you on Saturday." said Ned opening up his locker, "My parents forced me to go with them on a 'family night' or something."

"It's ok." said Moze doing the same Ned.

"Where's Cookie?" asked Ned now putting some of his books in his locker.

"Oh, yeah." said Moze, "He's sick. I think he has a cold."

"That's too bad." He closed his locker and started down the hall to his first class. Sat down at his desk and opened up his science book. Mr. Sweeney walked into the classroom looking stern as usual.

"Everyone!" he shouted over the classroom conversations, "We have a new student joining us." He gestured to the open door. A brown-haired girl walked shyly into the room. She had slightly curly hair with a couple red streaks tangled in it. Her ears had about five piercing all together and dark eyeliner. She had on a Rolling Stones t-shirt and ripped jeans with red high-tops.

"This is Amanda Klay." said Mr. Sweeney, "Amanda, can you tell us something about yourself?" she said nothing, "Amanda?" she looked around the room at the many faces staring at her, "Fine," said Mr. Sweeney, "I will just ask you a question. Uh, where did you go to school before James K. Polk?"

"Well, I never exactly went to school." She mumbled.

"What?" said Lisa Zemo, "how did you get an education?"

"I…I was home schooled since I was in first grade."

"What's that?"

"It's when you don't go to school." said Ned, "It's basically the same thing as school, but you don't have classes. You just do your homework."

"Weird." said Suzie Crabgrass under her breath.

It was lunch time. Ned sat down across from Moze. He set down his tray of food.

"So, did you see the new girl?" asked Moze.

"Yup, she seems nice." said Ned.

"How do you know? I mean, have you talked to her?" said Moze surprised, "I hear she isn't the most talkative person in the world, if you know what I mean."

"No, I haven't yet." Ned looked across the cafeteria. Amanda walked in carrying a brown paper bag. She looked around trying to find somewhere to sit. Amanda walked over to a table with a bunch of people at it, looking hopeful. Immediately, everyone spread out on the benches.

"Sorry," said a girl wearing all pink, "all full!" she repeated the experience two more times, Ned still watching all of this. Finally Amanda went to the last table, besides his own, that had one more seat at it. Suzie was right next to the empty spot. _At least Suzie would be nice about letting her sit down. _Thought Ned, but when Amanda was about to sit down Suzie scooted over about an inch so that the space was filled.

"Sorry." She said, and continued eating. Ned was shocked. Suzie was usually nice about letting people sit down next to her. Why would she be acting like this?

Amanda glared at the back of Suzie's head and walked out of the cafeteria.

"I'll be right back." said Ned who hadn't touched his food. He got up and followed Amanda through the doors. He made it out into the halls, but couldn't find her. Just then he heard a crash. He speed walked to the direction in which the noise had come from. He turned a corner and saw Amanda kneeling on the floor next to a spilt trashcan. Her food tray was sitting on the floor a few feet away from the spill. She was picking up the trash that had fallen out of it.

"Here," said Ned walking over and kneeling down next to her and started to pick up the crumpled up papers. Amanda looked up and stared at him.

"Thanks." She said, "I just wasn't watching where I was going and…"

"Yeah, sometimes your head can just be…" but he stopped as they both put their hand on the same crushed soda can, his hand on top of hers. They looked at each other for a moment, but quickly looked away, both of them blushing furiously.

"So, have you always lived here?" said Ned half an hour later. They were both sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall with their trays on their laps. They had been sitting there for twenty minutes, just talking about family, weird experiences, embarrassing moments. Right at the moment they were talking about places they've been and other strange things.

"No." said Amanda, "I used to live in Boston, but my dad had to get a new job, so we had to move."

"Oh," said Ned taking a tiny bite of a potato chip, "Sorry about that, but do you still like it here?"

"It's ok. Nothing is ever better than home though." Amanda took a drink of water.

"So, what about home schooling?" said Ned after a few scoops of pudding.

"It's ok. It can be brutal at some points, but other than that it's great!" she said, "The up-side of being home schooled is I get to do a lot of stuff during the day. But the bad thing about it is I don't know anything, anyone, or…or whatever's happening at school!" Ned listened to her. He listened until they had to leave because the halls were becoming filled with people.

"Hey Ned!" said a voice behind him.

"Huh?" Ned turned around and saw Moze standing behind him, "Oh, hey Moze."

"So?" said Moze nudging him in the arm, "who's it gonna' be?"

"What?"

"Didn't you see the notice?"

"What notice?" he had been so distracted by his and Amanda's conversation that he hadn't paid attention to anything but his thoughts.

"The Dance?" Moze pointed at a bulletin board with a giant poster that was covering the whole surface. **Get Ready to Dance! Make sure you have that date! Saturday, 8:00 PM!**

"Oh," said Ned, "that dance."

"So?" she said again, "who are you taking?"

"I'm not sure." He said. The bell rang, it was the end of the day. Ned collected his books and headed for the exit door that was stuffed with people. He made his way out and stood by the door. All of the teenagers flooded out of the double-doors. Ned waited for Amanda to come out. For some reason he didn't want to leave until he said goodbye to her. She was the last person out of the building, aside from the teachers.

"Hi Amanda!" he said cheerfully. Amanda's expression changed as he came up to her.

"Hi Ned!" she said hitching up her camouflage book bag. It was stuffed with books and papers and the strap had many buttons on it.

"Why didn't you leave?" asked Amanda looking around to find that there was barely anyone left in the parking lot.

"I dunno'. I just wanted to say bye." Ned said shuffling his feet with slight embarrassment.

"Oh, well, bye!"

"See you tomorrow."

Ned started down the hall of James K. Polk Middle School on Wednesday. It was almost the end of school. He saw Amanda standing with her back up against the wall. In front of her was a group of cheerleaders, jocks, and some other popular kids. He was glad that she was making friends with people. _How could she not?_ He thought. _With her red streaked hair and her rocker chic clothes. Those deep brown eyes and… wait! What am I thinking?_ He kept on walking towards her but stopped when he saw the scared look on Amanda's face. As he had gotten closer he could hear what the group was saying.

"So Klay, what are you doing for the dance?" said one of the cheerleaders.

"I bet she'll wear jeans." said another.

"Who's your date?" said a jock.

"It's probably…oh right! You could never get one!"

"Hey Klay!" said a cheerleader, "Hear you had to move!"

"That's probably because he got fired!" Amanda looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Got any siblings?" someone said.

"I know why she doesn't!" said a girl in pink, "It's because he died, isn't it!" Amanda burst into tears and ran off with everyone laughing at her and shouting 'Boo hoo! Boo hoo!' pretending to sob.

"Amanda?" said Ned as she came towards him, "it's ok! Don't let them get…" but she pushed past him and ran to the exit, "Amanda!" he shouted after her. Ned turned and marched towards the laughing group.

"What's wrong with you?" he shouted at them, "Why do you think she's so bad?" he went off after her. He ran out the doors as the bell rang and everyone came rushing out. He waited next to the door for Moze.

"Moze?"

"Yeah?" she said.

"Can you call my mom to tell her I'll be home late?" he asked desperately.

"Fine, but why?"

"No reason." he lied.

When everyone had left Ned started looking around for Amanda. Finally he heard sniffing around the corner of the brick wall. He looked around it and saw Amanda sitting against it with her legs crossed and head down.

"Amanda?" he said. She looked up at him.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok." He said sitting down next to her.

"I'm fine." She said wiping her eyes.

"It doesn't look like it." Amanda laughed a little, but it sounded sad, "come on, you can tell me!"

"It's just I don't know what to do!" she said, tears pouring down her face again, "There are just so many problems at home and with my parents."

"I don't want to sound nosey or anything, but what about your brother?" he said carefully.

"He…he died last year. It was a car accident. He was severely injured, but he died three days before Christmas." She sobbed, "It wasn't a very good Christmas present." She buried her face in her hands. Ned didn't know what to say, so he put his hand on her shoulder. Before he could do or say anything she had flung herself on him and had started hugging him. He surprised himself by hugging her back and whispering encouragement into her ear.

"It's just so hard without him." She said with her arms around his neck. She withdrew from their embrace and wiped her eyes.

"Look at me!" she said half laughing.

"It's ok. I would probably be doing the same as you." said Ned, trying to think of something to say. He helped her stand up and gave her her book bag lying on the ground.

"Would you…?" he hesitated, "would you like to get a milkshake?" he held his breath waiting for her answer.

"Sure. I'd really like that." For the first time she really smiled. She had very straight teeth.

"Cool." Said Ned, "come on! We can walk." The two didn't speak a word on the way there.

"That was great!" said Amanda as they left the building "Thanks for taking me! I needed it!"

"It was no trouble at all!" said Ned, "the only problem is how we're going to get to your house."

"I walk home from school every day. We can just take a shortcut through here. They turned into the woods and up a hill. As they approached Amanda's house Ned could see that she had turned slightly red in the cheeks. Her house was old and peeling. The paint was an ugly green color and some of the shudders were falling off.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" said Amanda as she walked up the steps to the old porch in the front of the house.

"Oh! Uh, Amanda?"

"Yeah?" she turned to face him.

"I was wondering, if we could do this again sometime? But maybe we could go and see a movie or something." He stammered.

"You mean, a date?" asked Amanda smiling.

"No, not exactly… Yes!"

"Sure."

"Really?" he said surprised.

"Yeah, I'll call you!" she said opening the door.

"Great! Er, yeah! Call me! I mean, I'll call you! I mean…" he tried to put his words together.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said laughing, and closed the door behind her. Ned walked away feeling happier than he had in a long time.


	2. Chapter 2: Pick a Date

Amanda was at her desk study that night. She kept on glancing at the black sticker filled phone in her room. She couldn't make up her mind whether to call Ned Bigby or wait until he called her. Finally she reached for the phone and dialed the first four numbers when her cell phone rang somewhere in the room. She jumped up and searched for her phone. Amanda found it in her book bag and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi! It's me!" said Ned's voice on the other end.

"Oh!" she said sounding slightly excited, "Hi Ned! I was just about to call you."

"Yeah, it took me about an hour whether or not to call you." Amanda laughed a little.

"So did you want something?" she said, although she thought she already knew what he wanted.

"Um, I just wanted to know if you would like to see a movie or something some time?" said Ned nervously.

"Sure! Uh, when?" Ned froze. He hadn't gotten that far!

"Uh, um…"

"Is Friday good for you?" said Amanda sensing that he was getting extremely nervous.

"Uh, yeah, Friday!" he said.

"Is seven good?" she asked.

"Sure! That's great! I'll pick you up at seven on Friday night."

"Yup, Ok! See you tomorrow!" she hung up. Ned put his phone back down on the receiver, celebrating in his own head.

"Hi Ned" said Moze the next day.

"Oh, hey Moze!" he said.

"Was Amanda ok yesterday?" she asked.

"Yeah she was just having a rough day." Ned put his books in his locker. Just then Amanda walked by them.

"Hi!" said Amanda. Ned waved back and smiled and Amanda did the same.

"What was that?" asked Moze as Amanda walked away.

"What?"

"She…her, you guys smiled and waved at each other!" she stuttered.

"What's wrong with that?" said Ned.

"It's just weird, you know?"

"No." Ned walked away to his class.

"What's his problem?" she said and walked away too.

At the end of the day Moze hid out behind the bushes for Ned and Amanda to see what would happen. Everyone had left before they had come out. She saw them come out and Amanda was carrying a guitar case. Ned said something to Amanda and she gave him the guitar case to carry. They both walked of into the forest area and out of site heading for Amanda's house. Moze came out of the bushes and started home. _What was that? Was he actually carrying here stuff? Does that mean he likes her? _Moze thought about it until she got to her bedroom.

The doorbell rang at seven o'clock on Friday at Amanda's house. She answered it knowing who it would be.

"Hi Ned!"

"Hi Aman…" but he trailed off mid sentence, "you look great!" Amanda was wearing white pants and a black and white polk-a-dot blouse. Her hair was been smooth and straightened.

"Thanks." She said shyly, "so do you!"

They walked the long way around, taking the sidewalk. Ned's mom was parked next to the curb. Ned opened the car door and they got inside. His mom drove them to a restaurant and made a reservation for three. Mrs. Bigby had to at least eat at another table while they sat together. After that they went to a movie. It was then that Ned's mom left them and said she would pick them up at ten.

"Thanks Mrs. Bigby!" said Amanda waving to her as they both walked into the theater.

The movie ended at 9:30. They came out of the theater with half full popcorn bags and a full personal review of the movie. But they didn't notice Moze, who had just come out of the theater behind them. She watched them talk to each other, _as if they were…no. That's impossible! But Ned had put her arm around her as they watched the film. This is too weird!_

"Well, we have half an hour before we can call my mom. What do you want to do?" asked Ned throwing his bag of popcorn in the trash.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just call your mom." said Amanda doing the same.

"Why?"

"My parents don't want me out too long." she said sighing.

"Oh," said Ned sounding slightly disappointed, "That's ok. I understand."

Ned and Amanda were walking back through the forest shortcut to her house.

"Thanks for taking me, Ned." said Amanda walking next to Ned.

"You're welcome!" he said still looking at his shoes. They arrived at Amanda's house.

"Well, I better go." She said as she took hold of his hands. Ned got a strange chill up and down his back.

"Maybe we could do it again some time." They were facing each other, moving closer bit by bit.

"I'd like that." said Amanda, moving her face even closer to his. Their lips were millimeters away, but as if coming to her senses pulled away.

"Um, I should probably… probably go." said Amanda turning red and running into the house.

"But…!" Ned held out his hand, but she had already gone. He sighed and started walking back to the car, but suddenly the front door behind banged shut and someone had turned him around.

"Goodbye Ned." And she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Amanda smiled and ran back into the house.

"Bye." he said after she had gone. _Wow! Was that even real? Was I dreaming? No. Amanda had just kissed me! On the cheek of coarse, but who cares? A kiss is a kiss, right?_

It was around ten o'clock in the morning and Amanda was sitting on her bed reading a book, but wasn't really reading it. She could only think about last night. Ned Bigby and she had gone out on what you could call a date. She thought it had gone quite well. Amanda had read the same sentence about five times when the doorbell rang. Her parents weren't home today. They had gone to a business trip early and wouldn't be home until tomorrow.

Amanda ran down the hall and opened the door.

"Oh! Hi Ned!"

"Hi Amanda!" he said sounding a little shy. She expected because she had kissed him on the cheek last night.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was just wondering if…uh, this is kind of hard." said Ned rubbing the back f his neck.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked standing back to let him in. Ned nodded wordlessly and stepped over the threshold.

"So," said Amanda as they sat at the dining room table, "what's up?"

"Well, first of all, I was wondering if you were going to the dance tonight?" he asked picking at a burnt spot on the table.

"Um, I wasn't planning on going. I mean, I don't really have a reason to." said Amanda standing up and getting glass of water.

"Oh," said Ned a little disappointed, "cause' I was wondering, if you were going and I was going then we could both meet there and happened to dance at the same time and…"

"Wait," said Amanda stopping him in mid sentence, "you want to take me to the _dance_?"

"Pretty much." Amanda laughed a little.

"Sure, why not?"

"Great!" he said jumping up in excitement and almost knocking the table over, "so, I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds good!" she walked Ned to the door and waved goodbye as he left through the woods.

As soon as he had left she ran up stairs and started searching through her closet for a dress she could wear to tonight. She had never thought about her clothing very much. She usually just put on something she felt comfortable in. She didn't even know if she owned a dress! In the back of the closet Amanda found a plane, white, floor-length dress. Amanda turned it inside-out to look at the silver fabric on the inside. She held it up to her in front of the mirror to see how it looked. She thought for a moment and got an idea. Nobody new this, but Amanda was actually a very gifted sewer. She ran to her mom's room and grabbed her designing materials and brought it to her mother's sewing machine. Amanda cut, glued, and sewed her dress into what she hopped would turn out to be better than how it started. When she had finished her dress she took an extra hour and a half to do her hair and makeup. The doorbell rang soon after.

"Hello?"

"Wow!" breathed Ned.

"Hi Ned." She said curling her hair around her finger.

"You look amazing!"

"I haven't even put on my dress yet!" she laughed.

"Yeah, but still!" said Ned.

"Just wait here." Amanda left him standing out on the steps. She arrived back at the door carrying big paper bag.

"Ok," she said closing the door behind her, "we can go now!"

"I'll be right back." said Amanda walking into the girl's bathroom. Ned went into the gym, which had been tuned into a dance floor and decorated for the dance.

"Hi Ned!" said a voice behind him. He turned around and saw Moze standing there looking very pretty in a red off-the-shoulder dress.

"Wow Moze! You look great." said Ned.

"You too!" said Moze, "so where's Amanda?"

"That reminds me!" he burst out, "guess who I came here with."

"Who?"

"I came here with…" but he trailed off as he saw Amanda enter the gym. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. Her dress was white with silver sequins and was strapless. It flared from the waist down with tulle underneath. She was also wore a silver shawl.

Ned stared at her in awe.

"You look amazing!" he said when she walked over to him and Moze who was also staring at her.

"Thanks!" she said looking at him with her big brown eyes, "it means a lot." She put her hand in his and smiled.

"Would you like to dance?" asked Ned.

"Sure." He led her to the dance floor where everyone was staring at Amanda. The music had turned from an upbeat dance song to a slow dance song. They faced each other and Amanda put her hands on his shoulders and Ned placed his hands on her waist. They both awkwardly swayed to the music. After a little bit into the song, Amanda had moved to the classic hugging-while-dancing position. They slowly made their way out though the gym exit and outside where it had been decorated in little fairy lights and a few benches had been placed around the area. Ned and Amanda sat down on one still hold each other's hands.

"Amanda?" he said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Can I…?" he stopped and bit his lip.

"What?" she said.

"Can I…can I kiss you?" he asked turning red. Amanda smiled and leaned in to him closing her eyelids. Their lips touched gently and smoothly. Amanda placed her hand on the back of his head and Ned put his hands on her back. They didn't even notice someone walk outside behind them, staring at the two.

"Ned?" said a voice behind them. Ned and Amanda broke apart and looked around.

"Uh, hi Moze." said Ned feeling very embarrassed.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I was just…"

"Just what?" said Moze putting her hands on her hips.

"Moze! Don't be mad at him for doing any of this!" she shouted at her, "he is allowed to do anything he wants to, and if he likes me let him! I happen to really like Ned,"

"You do?" said Ned, his eyes widening.  
"Yes I do, and if you have a problem with that then think you should leave!" Amanda stood up and walked over to Moze who took a step back, "You or anyone else here knows what's going on in my life! Not even Ned knows everything, so don't even try to understand!" Amanda pushed past her and ran into the gym.

"Amanda!" Ned got up and ran after her.

"Ned," Moze shouted after him, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" but they had both already ran out the door and into the halls.

"Amanda, wait!" he said catching up to her and gabbing her wrist.

"What?" she said turning around to face him.

"You know what."

"Ned I'm sorry, I have to go!" said Amanda trying to pull away from him.

"No you don't! We need to talk about this!"

"Fine!" she jerked her hand out from under his grip and stood there brushing her dress from dust.

"That's the first thing," said Ned gesturing to her dress, "what are you wearing?"

"Well, I can change if you don't like it."

"No, I love it, I just would have thought you would wear something more…black?" he said.

"I just…" she said with tears starting to roll down her face, "I just wanted to feel pretty. I've never had reason to dress before because no one ever asked me to go anywhere. No one ever likes me because they don't understand! You're the first person that I really did like and thought that he liked me back." Ned just stood there looking at her.

"I do like you! Why do you think I asked you to come with me to the dance?" he said laughing a little.

"You just don't get it! My whole life I never had more than one friend. Her name was Jessica. She was my only friend because I never went to school, so I didn't know anybody from public school. I was always being shot with questions about being home shooled. When I was eleven years old Jessica and her family moved all the way across the country, so I was all upset. About a month later my mom told me that…that she had died from pneumonia. And know that's two people that I loved that have left me forever and I don't want there to be a third. I'm sorry Ned, but I have to go." She started to leave but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back as he placed his lips on hers. He was surprised to feel her kiss back. Amanda moved her hand into his hair and Ned moved his up her arm and to her back. He pulled her in closer by the waist and they deepened the kiss. All of a sudden Amanda pulled away.

"I'm sorry." And she ran away leaving Ned still standing in the middle of the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3: See you There

It was eleven o'clock in the morning on Sunday and Amanda Klay was still lying in bed with her eyes open. There was a knock on the door.

"Go away." Amanda moaned turning over to face the other way. She heard the door open and someone walk in.

"Honey, are you ok?" asked her mother's voice, "you're usually are up around six!"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired from last night, that's all." She said.

"Then you're well enough to see a mister, Ned Bigby then?" said her mother.

"What?" said Amanda sitting up.

"There is a Ned Bigby down stairs waiting for you."

"Well, don't let him in!" said Amanda jumping up out from under the covers and looking for something to wear other than pajama pants and a t-shirt. Her mother left the room and went down to tell Ned she'd be down in a minute.

"Hi Ned." said Amanda as she walked down the stairs wearing a jean mini-skirt and long-sleeved, red, off-the-shoulder shirt and knee-high socks.

"Oh, hi Amanda." They both looked at each other nervously.

"Uh, did you want something?" she said looking around.

"Yeah, I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to do something today or tomorrow or…"

"Wait," said Amanda cutting him off, "you still want to ask me out even after what happened last night?"

"Of course, it wasn't entirely your fault, and I still like you, don't I?" he said taking a step closer.

"I don't know, do you?" she said smiling and taking a step closer too. Ned smiled and held out his arms and Amanda hugged him.

"So," she said releasing their embrace, "what do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you asked me!"

"We could go into the city?"

"Sounds great, I'll pick you up at six, ok?" asked Ned.

"Perfect!" said Amanda opening the door, "see you then!" Ned walked out of the doorway and started home. Amanda went upstairs and listened to music and did some homework for an hour and then took a shower. She got dressed in a skirt with the top of it jean and the rest was a smooth, colorful fabric and a nice shirt. The rest of the time she did homework and watched TV. At six o'clock Ned rang the doorbell and they left in his mom's car to go into the city to walk around.

Around 7:30 they decided to go walk around the park by the water. Ned slowly moved his hand from Amanda's shoulders to her waist. Amanda smiled to herself and moved his hand off her waist and entwined their fingers together. They both sat down on a park bench watched the water reflect the sunset. Amanda laid her head in Ned's shoulder and relaxed her eyelids.

"I don't really say this often but, this is very romantic." said Amanda looking up at him. Ned smiled and leaned down to bring his lips to hers.

Monday morning at 6:30 Amanda sat in bed with a notebook and pencil. She had been drawing for half an hour and had practically filled it with sketches of clothing. Ever since she had made her dress she had been sketching outfits and hoping to actually make them. Around seven she got up and got dressed in ripped jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt with a white 'Pink Floyd' t-shirt over it. She had straightened her hair so that it lay smooth under her newsboy hat.

Amanda ran down stairs and out the door grabbing a piece of toast, backpack, and a guitar case as she left.

"Hey Ned." said a voice behind him. Ned turned around and saw Moze standing behind him.

"Oh, hey Moze." He said turning back around to face his locker.

"Listen, I'm really sorry about Saturday. I was just concerned, that's all. I didn't mean to make her upset. I understand that you guys kind of…well, like each other." she said in one breath.

"Hi Ned!" said Amanda walking up to him, "Hey Moze, sorry I yelled at you. I was just nervous." Moze stared at her at how forgiving she was being, "anyway, were you guys going to the thing today?"

"What thing?" asked Ned.

"The audition thingy." said Amanda gesturing at the bulletin board. It had recently had had its sign from the dance changed to a message that read: **Talent Show Friday! Auditions Monday-Wednesday, 12:30-2:00 PM. Be there and show off what you got!**

"Uh, no, I wasn't. Were you?" said Ned.

"Well, if you weren't then I wasn't going to." Said Amanda

"I dunno', it sounds kind of cool, but I would probably just go and watch."

"Yeah, I might come and watch too." She said, "Bye!"

At one o'clock Ned entered the auditorium and sat down in an empty seat towards the back. He couldn't see Amanda anywhere. There was a group of three girls and two guys that were singing some group song. Ned sat there for half an hour and never saw her anywhere. He got up to leave, but just then behind him he heard a woman's voice, who had been calling up all of the people on stage, behind him say someone's name.

"Amanda Klay, please take the stage!" Ned swung around and saw her come out from behind a curtain carrying her guitar and looking extremely nervous. Amanda sat down on a stool that had been placed in the middle of the stage. A boy rushed out onto the stage and set up the microphone stand.

"Whenever you're ready." said the woman. Amanda closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the song. She opened her eyes and looked at Ned and froze. It was obvious that she didn't intend on him finding out about her audition. Amanda took a deep breath and started playing her guitar. After a few notes she started singing the song 'Breathe' by Anna Nalick. Her voice was beautiful. She was perfect right until the end of the song. People started clapping, with Ned among them. Amanda nodded her head and left the stage. Ned ran to her as she walked down the few steps leading off the stage.

"That was amazing!" he said, "Where did you learn to sing like that?"

"I just practiced in my room I guess." said Amanda putting her guitar back in its case.

"So, what do you do next?" asked Ned picking up her guitar case as they both started to walk down the isle to leave.

"I don't know, I guess I just wait." She said as they walked together.

Ned, Amanda, Moze, and Cookie all sat together at lunch. As they started talking about how much they couldn't wait until the weekend, how disgusting the cafeteria food was, and all sorts of things when somebody tapped Amanda on the shoulder. She turned around and saw a boy with brown hair standing behind her.

"Ms. Trill told me to give you this." He handed her a piece of paper that was folded up twice.

"Thanks!" Amanda took the piece of paper and opened it. The boy left to sit at another table.

"Who's Ms. Trill?" asked Cookie.

"She's the woman in charge of the auditions and director of all of the school plays and stuff." Amanda unfolded the paper and read it over, her eyes getting wider and wider.

"What is it?" asked Ned taking a drink of water.

"Miss Klay, I loved your audition for the talent show and was hoping you could see me in my office after school." Amanda read, "I would like to offer you a chance in our school play. Katharine Trill."


End file.
